Independent on Sunday 903 by Quixote
In a relaunch of the paper this has been moved from the inside back page – on P 75 of 96 this week. Solving time: 15 mins – held up by 18/7 Down … Read more >>
Independent 6440/Nimrod
Spot the Nina time – take a peek down the left- and right-hand sides of the grid. Across 1 VEND – I hope I’ve understand this correctly: SALSA appears in the completed grid … Read more >>
Guardian 24097, Araucaria — musical melange
A typical Araucaria puzzle — a mini-theme, classical references, multi-word answers and clues referring to other clues. Quite entertaining, provided you’re not too much of a purist. Across 1 BIGOTRIES — Omega = … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,468 by Cinephile — Largely Solvable
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of May 26, 2007 I am particularly pleased when I open my FT to find a puzzle by Cinephile. Often his puzzles have hidden themes that make … Read more >>
Financial Times 12477 by Cinephile
As is the case with his Guardian puzzles, Cinephile (aka Araucaria) often includes a thematic element or array in his FT publications. This particular puzzle was made slightly less tractable than usual by … Read more >>
Independent 6439 by Dac
The usual excellent, accessible, entertaining, fare. Solving time: 19 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 BLOOMS BURY Not a container and contents! 6 C (A) MP 12 LIST-LESS 21 MAIN STAY … Read more >>
Guardian 24096/Auster
This wasn’t too tricky but there were a few answers that I don’t fully understand – explanations/corrections welcome. Across 1 RAIN in B(offin)S 4 (SOME BEDS)* – deceptive surface reading. 9 OPT in … Read more >>
Guardian 24095/Gordius
I was too busy at work yesterday to finish the puzzle, so I completed it when I got home, only to find that my ADSL connection was down. It didn’t come back up … Read more >>
Independent 6438 by Punk
Not too difficult. Solving time: 19 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 S (TRAP PAD) O Pad = tread = tramp thus = so 9 AM OUR AM = “after which PM” electorate … Read more >>
Financial Times 12476/Highlander – Gentle start
We start our FT blogging with a nice and easy puzzle from Highlander. I’m not the world’s quickest solver but I think I managed this in something like 7-8 minutes. I haven’t commented … Read more >>
Starting today – the Financial Times crossword
From today, we shall be blogging the Financial Times puzzles. We may not be able to cover every day of the week as we don’t yet have enough volunteers but hopefully this will … Read more >>
Independent 6437/Morph
I think this is an easier crossword than Morph’s previous Independent crosswords, it’s certainly the quickest I’ve solved a Morph! That’s not a criticism though as it’s thoroughly fair and characteristically entertaining. Anyway, … Read more >>
Guardian 24094/Rufus – heartening
Solving time: 10’ Heartening start to the week after the weekend puzzles: I do know how to parse a cryptic clue after all. Not too many cryptic defs either – but a couple … Read more >>
Guardian Genius 47 by Pasquale – Grauniad
A pleasing puzzle based on the affectionate nickname of the paper, famous for its misprints. The eight-letter words had to be entered by shifting their letters in the same way so e.g. as … Read more >>
Everyman 3165/record time
Solving time: 12’ Fastest solve for me ever – I think. Even managed to spell AUF WIEDERSEHEN correctly the first time. I recognized SHREVEPORT pretty quickly as well probably because it figured as … Read more >>